Appearance
GNU Screen
The original terminal multiplexer. Session persistence and window management since 1987.
GNU Screen, first released in 1987, is the original terminal multiplexer. It introduced the concept of persistent terminal sessions that survive disconnection — a capability that was revolutionary for remote system administration over unreliable connections.
Screen's VT emulation is conservative, supporting basic ANSI/VT100 features but lacking many modern extensions. It does not support truecolor (24-bit RGB), kitty keyboard protocol, or kitty graphics. Its 256-color support requires explicit configuration. As an intermediary, Screen strips or mishandles many modern escape sequences that newer terminals support.
While tmux has largely replaced Screen for new users, Screen remains installed by default on many Linux distributions and is still widely used in legacy environments, embedded systems, and situations where tmux isn't available.
Backend: The original terminal multiplexer. Session persistence and window management since 1987. · v5.0.1
86%
126 passed · 21 failed of 147 features
Tested: March 26, 2026
Character Sets
| Feature | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| DEC line drawing character set | ✓ yes | |
| DEC Special Graphics | ✓ yes | |
| G0/G1 character set switching | ✓ yes | |
| UTF-8 mode | ✓ yes |
Cursor
| Feature | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CUD stops at bottom | ✓ yes | cursor at row 24 |
| CUP at screen boundaries | ✓ yes | |
| CUP with DECOM | ✓ yes | |
| CUU stops at top | ✓ yes | |
| Hide cursor (DECTCEM) | ✓ yes | |
| Cursor horizontal absolute (CHA) | ✓ yes | |
| Cursor position (CUP) | ✓ yes | |
| Cursor back (CUB) | ✓ yes | |
| Cursor down (CUD) | ✓ yes | |
| Cursor forward (CUF) | ✓ yes | |
| Cursor home | ✓ yes | |
| Cursor up (CUU) | ✓ yes | |
| Cursor next line (CNL) | ✓ yes | |
| Cursor position report (DSR 6) | ✓ yes | |
| Reverse Wrap (Mode 45) | ✓ yes | |
| Save/restore cursor (DECSC) | ✓ yes | |
| Cursor shape (DECSCUSR) | ✓ yes |
Device Status
| Feature | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mode Report (DECRPM) | ✗ no | Screen does not support DECRPM (mode reporting) |
| Request Setting (DECRQSS) | ✗ no | Screen does not support DECRQSS (setting reporting) |
| Primary device attributes (DA1) | ✓ yes | |
| Secondary Device Attributes (DA2) | ✓ yes | |
| Device status report (DSR 5) | ✓ yes | |
| Feature Reporting (TERM_FEATURES) | ✗ no | Screen does not support XTGETTCAP terminal-features query |
| Tertiary Device Attributes (DA3) | ✗ no | Screen does not forward DA3 to the outer terminal |
| Query Terminfo (XTGETTCAP) | ✗ no | Screen does not support XTGETTCAP |
| Terminal Version (XTVERSION) | ✗ no | Screen does not support XTVERSION query |
Editing
| Feature | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Delete characters (DCH) | ✓ yes | |
| Delete lines (DL) | ✓ yes | |
| Insert characters (ICH) | ✓ yes | |
| Insert lines (IL) | ✓ yes | |
| Repeat character (REP) | ✗ no | Screen does not support REP (repeat character) |
Erase
| Feature | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Erase character (ECH) | ✓ yes | |
| ED at scroll region boundary | ✓ yes | |
| EL erases with bg color | ✓ yes | |
| Erase line (EL 2) | ✓ yes | |
| Erase to BOL (EL 1) | ✓ yes | |
| Erase to EOL (EL 0) | ✓ yes | |
| Erase above (ED 1) | ✓ yes | |
| Erase screen (ED 2) | ✓ yes | |
| Erase below (ED 0) | ✓ yes | |
| Erase scrollback (ED 3) | ✓ yes | |
| Selective Erase (DECSED) | ✓ yes |
Extensions
| Feature | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| iTerm2 Inline Images (OSC 1337) | ✓ yes | |
| Kitty graphics protocol | ✗ no | Screen does not support kitty graphics protocol |
| Kitty keyboard protocol | ✗ no | Screen does not support kitty keyboard protocol |
| Desktop Notifications (OSC 9/777) | ✓ yes | |
| VS Code Shell Integration (OSC 633) | ✓ yes | |
| Icon and title (OSC 0) | ✓ yes | |
| Foreground color query (OSC 10) | ✗ no | Screen does not pass through OSC 10 color queries |
| Background color query (OSC 11) | ✗ no | Screen does not pass through OSC 11 color queries |
| iTerm2 Capability Reporting (OSC 1337) | ✗ no | iTerm2-specific protocol not supported by Screen |
| iTerm2 Cell Size Reporting (OSC 1337) | ✗ no | iTerm2-specific protocol not supported by Screen |
| Window title (OSC 2) | ✓ yes | |
| Clipboard access (OSC 52) | ✓ yes | |
| Current directory (OSC 7) | ✓ yes | |
| Hyperlinks (OSC 8) | ✓ yes | |
| Text reflow on resize | ✓ yes | Screen 4.x does not support text reflow on resize (fixed in 5.0) |
| Semantic prompts (OSC 133) | ✓ yes | |
| Sixel graphics | ✗ no | Screen does not support sixel graphics |
| Sixel support in DA1 | ? unknown | |
| 24-bit truecolor | ✓ yes |
Input Protocols
| Feature | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Button-Event Mouse (1002) | ✓ yes | |
| CSI u Key Encoding | ✓ yes | |
| modifyOtherKeys | ✓ yes | |
| Pixel Mouse Reporting (1016) | ✓ yes | |
| urxvt Mouse Reporting (1015) | ✓ yes | |
| X10 Mouse Tracking (9) | ✓ yes |
Modes
| Feature | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Enter alt screen (DECSET 1049) | ✓ yes | Behavioral: entered and responded |
| Exit alt screen (DECRST 1049) | ✓ yes | |
| App cursor keys (DECCKM) | ✓ yes | Behavioral: responsive after enable |
| Application keypad (DECKPAM) | ✓ yes | |
| Auto-wrap (DECAWM) | ✓ yes | Behavioral: wrap confirmed |
| Bracketed paste (DECSET 2004) | ✓ yes | Behavioral: terminal responsive after enable |
| Focus tracking (DECSET 1004) | ✓ yes | Behavioral: responsive after enable |
| Insert/replace mode (IRM) | ✓ yes | |
| Left/Right Margins (DECLRMM, Mode 69) | ✓ yes | |
| All motion mouse (DECSET 1003) | ✓ yes | Behavioral: responsive after enable |
| SGR mouse mode (DECSET 1006) | ✓ yes | Behavioral: responsive after enable |
| Mouse tracking (DECSET 1000) | ✓ yes | Behavioral: responsive after enable |
| Origin mode (DECOM) | ✓ yes | Behavioral: cursor at row 5 (origin mapped) |
| Reverse video (DECSCNM) | ✓ yes | Behavioral: responsive after enable |
| Synchronized output (DECSET 2026) | ✓ yes | Behavioral: responsive after enable |
Reset
| Feature | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Backend reset() method | ✓ yes | cursor at 5;5 after DECSTR |
| Full reset (RIS) | ✓ yes | |
| SGR reset clears attributes | ✓ yes | |
| Soft reset (DECSTR) | ✓ yes |
Scrollback
| Feature | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Scrollback accumulates | ✓ yes | |
| Alt screen separate scrollback | ✗ no | Screen's alternate screen buffer handling differs — scrollback not fully preserved |
| DECSTBM constrains scrolling | ✓ yes | |
| DECSTBM reset to full screen | ✓ yes | cursor at row 24 (expected near bottom after DECSTBM reset) |
| Reverse index (RI) | ✓ yes | |
| Scroll down (SD) | ✓ yes | |
| Scroll up (SU) | ✓ yes | |
| Scroll region (DECSTBM) | ✓ yes | |
| Total line count | ✓ yes | Content written to scrollback |
SGR (Text Styling)
| Feature | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 256-color bg (SGR 48;5) | ✓ yes | |
| Bright bg colors (SGR 100-107) | ✓ yes | |
| Default bg color (SGR 49) | ✓ yes | |
| Standard bg colors (SGR 40-47) | ✓ yes | |
| 24-bit bg (SGR 48;2) | ✓ yes | |
| Blink (SGR 5) | ✓ yes | |
| Bold (SGR 1) | ✓ yes | |
| Faint/dim (SGR 2) | ✓ yes | |
| 256-color fg (SGR 38;5) | ✓ yes | |
| Bright fg colors (SGR 90-97) | ✓ yes | |
| Default fg color (SGR 39) | ✓ yes | |
| Standard fg colors (SGR 30-37) | ✓ yes | |
| 24-bit fg (SGR 38;2) | ✓ yes | |
| Hidden/invisible (SGR 8) | ✓ yes | |
| Inverse video (SGR 7) | ✓ yes | |
| Italic (SGR 3) | ✓ yes | |
| Overline (SGR 53) | ✓ yes | |
| Reset all (SGR 0) | ✓ yes | |
| Reset bold/dim (SGR 22) | ✓ yes | |
| Reset inverse (SGR 27) | ✓ yes | |
| Reset italic (SGR 23) | ✓ yes | |
| Reset underline (SGR 24) | ✓ yes | |
| Strikethrough (SGR 9) | ✓ yes | |
| Underline color (SGR 58) | ✓ yes | |
| Curly underline (SGR 4:3) | ✓ yes | |
| Dashed underline (SGR 4:5) | ✓ yes | |
| Dotted underline (SGR 4:4) | ✓ yes | |
| Double underline (SGR 21) | ✓ yes | |
| Underline (SGR 4) | ✓ yes |
Text
| Feature | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Backspace (BS) | ✓ yes | |
| Basic text rendering | ✓ yes | |
| Combining characters (0 cols) | ✓ yes | |
| Carriage return | ✓ yes | |
| Index (IND) | ✓ yes | |
| Line feed | ✓ yes | |
| Next line (NEL) | ✓ yes | |
| Overwrite at cursor | ✓ yes | |
| Reverse Index at Scroll Top | ✓ yes | |
| Tab stops | ✗ no | Screen's tab handling may differ from direct terminal |
| CJK wide chars (2 cols) | ✓ yes | |
| Emoji wide chars (2 cols) | ✗ no | Screen 4.x has limited Unicode width awareness — emoji rendered as narrow |
| Regional indicator flags (2 cols) | ✓ yes | |
| Variation selector 16 (emoji presentation) | ✗ no | Screen 4.x does not handle VS16 emoji variation selectors |
| Emoji ZWJ sequences (2 cols) | ✗ no | Screen 4.x does not handle ZWJ emoji sequences |
| Text wraps at width | ✓ yes |
Unicode
| Feature | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| East Asian Ambiguous Width | ✓ yes | width=1 (ambiguous chars vary by terminal/locale) |
| Grapheme Cluster Cursor Movement | ✗ no | Screen 4.x does not support grapheme cluster cursor positioning |
| Tab Stops (HT) | ✗ no | Screen's tab stop handling differs from direct terminal |
| Wide Char at Line Wrap | ✓ yes |